


The Graduation Complication

by DonTheRock



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Comedy, Fluff, Graduation, Love, M/M, No Smut, Romance, Short Story, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24135019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DonTheRock/pseuds/DonTheRock
Summary: Graduation, the day when your name is spoken out for your whole grade to hear. For TJ Kippen, this is a problem.Approximate read time: 15 minutes
Relationships: Cyrus Goodman & T. J. Kippen, Cyrus Goodman/T. J. Kippen, Tyrus – Relationship
Comments: 26
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Cyrus's POV**

The late spring air sweeps in through my window, filling the space with the buttery scent of pollen and blossoming flowers. It's cool out, but TJ and I create our own heat, kissing atop my bed, sweetening the butter into butterscotch with our tongues. It's the one hobby that never gets boring. I always look forward to tasting his coconut chapstick and feeling his hands dancing along my spine. Since eighth grade, this has been our sport, and frankly, the only sport I'm good at. 

When our lips separate, his eyes linger on mine, following a string that connects them together. As a grin grows on my face, I can see the terror in TJ's expression building by the second until he's staring hard at me, shaking his head. 

"Don't say it."

My grin only gets bigger. 

"Cyrus..."

His eyes plead for me to rethink my decision, but I'm stubborn.

I let out a laugh as I drawl the word, "Niceberg."

TJ falls back on the mattress, unleashing an exasperated groan. "That was one time!"

I bend over beside him, smiling. "And it was an adorable one time."

He quickly forgets about being mad as I return my lips to his, and he pulls my waist down to him, prolonging the parting, but unfortunately I can't stay. I push myself away and stand up on the floor next to my boyfriend who remains lying on the bed, his head tilted in my direction.

"You can stay, but I have to study," I tell him. 

"You can study me."

"Unfortunately, you won't get me an A in political science."

He frowns, and I spin around to go to my desk to begin setting up my school books. While I'm taking out a pencil, TJ asks another question.

"Is that last year's yearbook?"

I look back, seeing his head hanging upside down off the bed, and his focus fixated on the book sitting out of place on my bookshelf. 

"Yeah," I say, going over to pick it up.

He rolls back onto his bottom as I sit down on my bed again beside him. When I peel the cover up, the pages naturally fall open to the page spread with both TJ's photo and mine. 

"I was looking at this," I say, pointing to where his name is printed. "Even the yearbook calls you TJ Kippen. You've managed to get through all of school without anyone knowing your full name."

"Yeah, it was a good run. Too bad that's gonna end soon."

"What are you talking about?"

"My sister told me how our principal refuses to use nicknames at the graduation ceremony," TJ explains. "At hers, he exposed the kid who went by 'Q' his whole twelve years. So when I walk the stage, everyone will find out that I am Thelonius Jagger Kippen, and it will no longer be a Kippen secret. I guess it had to come out someday, I just wasn't ready for that day to be Saturday."

I admit a large part of my motivation behind my next sentence is my desire to remain among the few people who know TJ's real name, but that doesn't counteract my genuine caring for the boy who's wanted to see how long he can keep his name hidden. 

"It's not going to be Saturday," I state. "Your name will not be spoken. We will make sure of it."

TJ smiles at my determination but doesn't look nearly as confident as me. 

"And how will we do that?"

_______________________________________

**TJ's POV**

Cyrus and I sit across from Buffy, Jonah, and Andi at a table in The Spoon. I listen as Cyrus puts forth his request to our friends, and right away, Jonah doesn't understand the severity of the situation.

"This is stupid," Jonah states. 

The girls, although equally as confused, are slightly more willing to go along with it. 

"So you want us to help you guys come up with some big plan to make sure TJ's name doesn't get said over the microphone at the graduation ceremony?" Buffy summarizes. 

"Precisely," Cyrus confirms. 

"TJ's name can't be that bad," Jonah says. 

"It's not. It's adorable, and I love it with my entire being," Cyrus responds, "but TJ thinks otherwise."

I nod, supporting that point. 

"What even is your name?" Andi wonders. 

"That's a Kippen secret," I say. 

"Wait, but if only Kippens know it, then how come Cyrus knows it?" Jonah asks. "He's not a Kippen."

Both girls just look at him with faces that say _'seriously?'_

"He might as well be," Buffy says. She looks to Cyrus and me again, asking, "So do you guys have any thoughts on how to do this?"

"Not yet," Cyrus answers. "That's why we wanted your help."

"I don't want to spend the whole first half of the ceremony sitting with Cyrus and waiting for my lifelong secret to be announced."

"You know you won't be sitting with Cyrus, right?" Jonah points out. "Seating is alphabetical by last name."

I immediately flick my eyes to Cyrus who looks right back at me. He won't be sitting next to me? That doesn't seem right. 

"I don't like that," I say.

"I have an idea," Cyrus responds.

I put my arm around him, squeezing him into a side hug as I say, "That's my muffin."


	2. Chapter 2

**TJ's POV**   
  
  


"Why I should be seated next to TJ Kippen."

The vice principal, Ms. Squires, and assistant principal, Miss Taylor, stare at Cyrus with looks of total bewilderment, like they can't believe that this is what we booked a thirty-minute meeting in their office to talk to them about. Cyrus is in his suit, as expected, since he always dresses for the occasion. He guides the teachers' eyes with his laser pointer across the power point presentation that he has playing on the screen. I stand to the side, switching the slides while my boyfriend speaks, a smile engraved on my face the whole time. _God, he's adorable._

"Point one," Cyrus says. "TJ and I have been dating since we were in grade eight when he held my hand on a bench by a fire, which is astronomically romantic by anyone's standards.

"Point two. Our long-held relationship has lasted nearly five years, which is only three years shorter than the average marriage in the U.S. Looking at that information, I'm practically a Kippen anyway, so seating me next to him would only be rational. Also, heterosexual partners are twice as likely to get divorced than homosexual partners are, so our relationship is already greatly anticipated to last.

"Point three. There are approximately three times the amount of students with surnames beginning with G than there are students with surnames beginning with K, so putting me in the K category would aid the much-needed balancing out of the surname groups."

Seven more slides later, we reach the final one.

"And that concludes my presentation on why I should be a seated as Kippen at graduation," Cyrus says. "I will now allow for questions from the audience."

The two teachers have the most drained expressions on their faces, with furrowed brows and tired eyes.

"I have a question," Ms. Squires speaks up, and then she looks to me. "How come you didn't have any slides to present?"

"He made the presentation. I just love him."

Cyrus and I share a gaze as he smiles at me, sending out a few more of his heartbeats through the air for me to soak up.

"Well, I have to admit," Miss Taylor starts, "that was a very persuasive presentation."

"Yeah," I say, looking at my boyfriend. " _I'd_ give him my last name."

I think I see one of the teachers roll her eyes, but I'm too focused on Cyrus to notice who it is.

"Look," Ms. Squires says, "we can't just give you his last name. That's not how this works."

"Oh, just do it, Rachel," Miss Taylor butts in.

"But it has to be alphabetical."

"I've seen some of those students' english papers," Miss Taylor states. "I'm not convinced that some of them even know the alphabet anyway."

Their debate carries on for another minute until Ms. Squires finally looks at me and Cyrus and sighs.

"Fine."

A huge grin springs onto Cyrus's face, but he moves it aside one last time to look professional as he says, "It was a pleasure presenting to you. Good day."

________________________________________

**Cyrus's POV**   
  
  


"Great news!" I say as TJ and I slide into the booth with our friends at The Spoon. "I'm going to be seated beside TJ at the graduation ceremony."

"What?" Buffy reacts. "How did you manage that?"

"He put together a whole power point presentation for the vice and assistant principals," TJ explains. "It was so cute."

"Now we've got to focus on our plan to make sure TJ's name isn't said aloud," I say.

"Wait," Andi stops me. "If you were just talking to the assistant and vice principals, why didn't you just ask them about changing TJ's name too?"

TJ and I both drop our jaws in realization.

"I didn't even think of that," I confess. "And now there aren't anymore meeting times available to book to talk with them until after the ceremony this weekend."

"That's okay," TJ says. "That would've taken all the fun out of it anyway."

"You're both lucky I thought of a plan," Buffy says. "I talked to Marty, and he said he and his friends in tech club could make things happen."

"Oooh, so what are you thinking?" I ask.

A proud smile spread on her face as she begins explaining the scheme. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone wanted to know where I got my stats from, here's the link: https://www.thebalance.com/how-long-do-average-u-s-marriages-last-4590261


	3. Chapter 3

**TJ's POV**  
  
  


When Cyrus steps into my room, it suddenly hits me that we're graduating. He stands with his blue gown on over his dress shirt and pants, smiling as I approach him. We only have a few more weeks left as high schoolers, and after that, we're adults, making our way through the world on our own. But really, I'm not entirely on my own, because I have Cyrus. I take his hands, lacing them into mine as I stop in front of him.

"This feels surreal," I say. "We're actually graduating. After twelve years, we're finally graduating."

"I know," he responds. "Do you feel ready?"

"I don't know," I breathe. "It's a just so new."

"Well, I know you'll be able to handle anything life throws at you. And if you can't, you can ask me, and I'll help you handle it."

After taking in the sight of his smile for a moment, I step in, sealing my body against his as I kiss him, and it feels like being showered in stardust, the way the galaxy's light radiates out of him and into me. 

"Okay, quit sucking face," comes my sister, Amber's, voice as she passes by my door. "We gotta leave now, or you're gonna be late for your own graduation."

I back away from Cyrus, turning to my sister to reply, "Weren't you late for your graduation?"

"Yes, which is why I know you don't want to be."

She swivels around and hurries down the hall toward the stairs. 

"Why was she late?" Cyrus wonders. 

"She was sucking face with Andi," I answer. 

"I can hear you!" she shouts.

I grin and yell back, "I know!"

**Cyrus's POV**

I look to my right and see TJ in the chair beside me. Although his face stands out to me, to all the families sitting at the back of the auditorium, he must blend into the blue wave of caps and gowns along with everyone else. The class valedictorian, whom I don't know personally, goes up and does her speech, and the whole time, I can feel TJ's heart pounding anxiously in his chest. My eyes remain up at the speaker, but I let my hand drop down to my side, my fingers brushing his. A smile lights on my face as he threads his hand through mine, and the thumping of his pulse relaxes a little. 

Our plan is already in motion. If it doesn't work, we can't do anything to help it. All we can do is trust that the tech club has it all figured out. The sooner it gets to the moment of truth, the firmer TJ's hand squeezes mine. Eventually, the valedictorian says her last words, the audience claps, and the principal takes the podium. After a brief introduction, he begins listing the names. 

Ten names in, he speaks the words, "Jonah Beck," and my friend goes gallivanting up the steps, onto the stage where he receives his diploma, shakes a few hands, then goes to join the rest of the students at the far end.

Walker is only a couple names after him, and later comes Buffy, and then Marty, and suddenly, we've reached the K names, and the tension is higher than a skyscraper, teetering in anticipation. The principal steps up to the mic, leans into it, and opens his mouth.

"Thel—"

The sound cuts out, replaced by just a high-pitched squeal. The principal jumps back and covers his ears, and so do I and the rest of the audience. When the interruption dies, the principal returns to podium, looking baffled. 

"My apologies. Thel—"

It cuts out again, but this time there's no squeak. While the principal taps the mic, confused, TJ rises out of his chair and makes his way toward the stage, a smug grin on his face. 

When he gets up the stairs, he approaches the principal's microphone, getting close enough to say for himself, "TJ Kippen."

The principal shakes his head at my boyfriend, clearly suspicious and in disapproval, but TJ just carries on to collect his diploma. It's graduation. Punishing him at this point would be futile, and the principal knows that, because he lets it happen. As TJ takes his spot in the rows of students, he gives me a wink, and I see Marty reaching back from the row ahead to give him a high five. 

The principal takes a breath and glances down at the next name. "Cyrus Kippen." He hesitates a second. "Or Cyrus Goodman." Then he gives a questioning look to the vice principal who's standing next to him, whispering a question that the microphone catches loosely. "Is it Kippen or Goodman?"

The vice principal just shrugs and replies, "I don't know anymore."

"Alright," the principal says back into the mic. "Uh, Cyrus."

I stand, smiling all the way up to the stage and over to where TJ is waiting for me. As soon as I get to him, his hand finds mine again, weaving back together the way they should be. The audience claps as the names continue, and I remain smiling, aware that photos are being taken, but after about a minute, TJ leans down and speaks something softly into my ear. 

"What if I gave you my last name for real?"

My smile vanishes, replaced by wide-eyed astonishment as I whip my attention to TJ. My pulse fires like the gun at the start of a sprint, and every bone in my body gets tangled up in a curly, fluttering sensation. _Did he just...? Is he...?_

"Are you asking what I hope you're asking?" 

A smile appears on his lips, and he reaches through the pocket slit in his gown, pulling out two silver rings. My mouth falls agape, and all I can do is stare at the jewelry. All my daydreams of our future—cuddling together on rainy nights, messing up recipes so bad that we just give up and order takeout, playing classic rock songs that we'll one day teach our kids on the piano—they all blaze through my mind like lightning. And I can feel my eyes welling with tears that I can't possibly control. 

"You got two rings?" I utter. 

"I've been saving up," he replies. "I was going to wait until after graduation to ask you, but I got impatient."

I let out a sputtering exhale as I hold out my hand, and TJ slides one of the rings onto my finger, giving himself the other. There's a word engraved on the metal, and I bring it up closer to read the script. ' _Underdog'._ My eyes switch to his ring, which has a phrase of its own. ' _Not-So-Scary-Basketball-Guy'._

I suck in a shaky breath and whimper, "TJ, I'm gonna cry."

Correction. I'm already crying, tears streaming down my cheeks like raindrops down a window. Those around us all stare in wonder, but the only person I'm focused on is TJ. 

"Don't cry," he says, bringing his hand up to wipe my tears away with the gentleness of a feather. "You'll ruin the photos."

A laugh breaks through my sobbing while TJ smiles down at me, his thumb brushing my cheek and palm finding my jaw. 

And then the principal's voice sounds out once more, saying, "Please give one final round of applause for this year's graduating class."

And the crowd erupts, and I cross the distance between me and my fiancé, igniting a spark with our lips. I can only imagine what a wonderful class photo this will make framed in the hallway of Grant High. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I really hope you liked this. I had this idea, but I wanted it to be more than a one-shot, so I figured a short story would be perfect. Thank you all for reading, and please don't hesitate to leave kudos and comment and all that jazz, but if you don't want to, that's chill too. I love you all. Goodbye, lovelies!


End file.
